Gear Contests

Annual Great Pacific Long Distance Hiking Gadget and Invention Revue

The Annual Great Pacific Long Distance Hiking Gadget and Invention Revue features clever inventions by long distance hikers. Everything from nifty tent stakes to a home-made parka to modified store-bought gear, you name it. If it's unique, it's eligible. The contest will be held Saturday morning, and the presentations themselves are half the fun.

The rules--if you want to call them that--are similar to last year's:

• No commercial entries are eligible for prizes. (Vendors with cool, innovative stuff will be displaying their wares throughout the weekend.)
• ADZ attendees (not a panel of judges) will determine the winners of the contest. Following the presentations, you'll be able to chat with each presenter, examine their gear close up, and place your vote for your favorites!

You can view descriptions and pictures of previous winning entries here, here, and here.

G-FORCE Award for Best Complete System

This year's gear contest will also have a category introduced in 2002, the G-FORCE award, (Gear FOR Cruising Effortlessly). The concept is to select the most excellent complete system of gear including everything carried and worn to start a PCT through hike at the kick off. Expendables such as food, water and fuel will not be included. Unlike the Gear Contest, which applauds creativity and novelty in individual pieces of equipment, the G-FORCE contest evaluates each entrant's Full System to stay warm, safe, fed, and dry as a thru-hiker. Everything gets touched on as each pack is evaluated -- food preparation, water filtration and purification, warmth in wet weather, etc. Last year's trend was the average thru-hiker's pack seemed more than 5 lbs less than the previous year. As packs become lighter, the full system becomes more tightly integrated and the gear is much more interdependent to provide warmth and safety. The Full Systems approach has become and is becoming much more important each year.

Judging the G-FORCE contest this year will be past winners Carl Rush, Warner Springs Monty, and Billy Goat.

Prizes include equipment donated by Adventure 16 and by Gossamer Gear, among others.

Bring Out Your Most Useless Item Contest

Inaugurated in 2005, the BOYMUIC is a showcase for those items that are in your pack -- but shouldn't be! Contestants show their items to our celebrity panel, who will quickly pass judgement: USELESS or NOT USELESS. Adding insult to injury, special useless prizes are awarded to those who are already carrying useless stuff. This year, Squatch and The One will be the Emcees for the event. The judges are:

• Gottago, primary benefactor behind the always popular PCT bandana
• Scrambler, the youngest person to complete a PCT thru hike
• NaborJ, 2005 thru hiker
• Whoop Ass, who acquired her trail name at last year's kickoff
• Ken and Marcia Powers, fresh off the American Discovery Trail
• Mad Monte, whose collection of backpacking stoves weighs more than all the stoves out on the trail this year
• Warner Springs Monty, who manages to cook meals for 600 kickoff attendees without breaking a sweat
• Batteries Included
• Mags, who apparently plans his long hikes to coincide with midterm elections (AT '98, PCT '02, CDT '06)
• Carl Rush, veteran judge from the inaugural Useless Item Contest

With that many judges, we'll need a vote counter (easily bribed, I'm sure), and it's Triple Crown hiker and PCT Handbook author Yogi.

The winner gets to carry home this fabulous trophy (Coke can not included).